Parachute apparatus.



D. W. OGLVIE. PARAGHUTE APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAR.13.1913.

i To all whom it may concern l* UNITED STATES lPATPJNT OFFICE,

DAVID WILLIAMS csILvIE, or BALBOA, CANAL zoNE.

PARACHUTE APPARATUS.

Be it known -that I, DAVID W. OGILVIE, a

subject of the King of England, residing at specification, reference being had to the ac Balboa, Canal Zone, have invented certainv new and useful Improvements In Parachute' Apparatus, of which the. following is. a

companyingdrawings.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvementsin parachute ap beef extremely simpleconstruction and operation and whichy will serve to prevent an airship lfrom earth. Another object is to projgide a device of this character which may be readily operjated should the engine stop or get out of order, the device serving to arrest the sudden descent of the machine and cause-the latter to `descend slowly, thereby preventing injury to' the machine vand the occupants i, rthereof. 25 this char .cter which wil include a bell and .parachute secured above the same' and nor- A further object is to. rovide a device of mally inclos'ed with vthe bell in a gun barrel to'be ejected from the upper end of the `latter upon operation of the gun, thereby permitting the parachute to open and serve to anchorthe airship in mid air and then allow gradual descent of said airship.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character which may be posil tioned adjacent the operator of the airship and in which compressed airmay b e employed for ejecting the parachutecarrying bell' and arachute. l

With .t e above and other objects in view, my Invention consists 1n certain Vnovel constructions, combinations, and arrangements ot'l parts to be hereinafter `more fully de.

.designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, A designates the barrelwhich has its upper end 'open while its lower Specication of letters Patent. i Application led March 13, 1913.4 Serial No. 754,153.

descending suddenly to they Patented Sept. 1.5, 1 914.

end is closed and which decreases gradually in diameter toward its upper end, as clearly shown in the drawing. .The barrel is divided into the lower compartments a and b 5i. and upper compartment ofthe purpose of' which will resentlyap'pear. j Within the lower compartment a is. the transverse shaft'F positioned adjacent the. bottom of the barrel and extending beneath 6.3 the lower compartment b.. The shaft has a drum f mounted lthereon with the cord f wound thereon and one'end of the shaft prof jects .through the side of the drum and has the crank' arm fI mountedy thereon, by 70 means-of which theshaftF Imay be readily rotated with the drum f to windthe cord .f upon said drum. `The cord f is also secured to the fastening member g engaged through the center `of the bell la, itbeing understood that 'said cord f is secured to thev end of the fastening member. g within the bell It. L

The belll h normally rests upon .the upper fiat wall z' of the lower compartments a and b and has the substantially U-shaped frame member h. secured to its upper convex face by the fastening member y, the shaft k be-V ing mounted in the'upperextremities of the upstanding legs of said substantially U-` shaped frame member h Awith the drum j, mounted thereon between said legs. One end ofthe shaft k has a right angledarm 7c secured thereon, to which is hinged the handle lc which' is adapted, when not in use, to be folded against the arm c to avoid the edge of the barrel, as will be readily under-stood.

The drum j has-the cord j secured thereto an pted to b'e normally wound upon the same, said cord j being a continuation of the separate cords n. secured to the edge of the parachute n, the separate cords 'n' being secured together, as shown at m, and a plurality of rlngs Z of cork or other suitable material being engaged around the cords j im mediately below. the point m. When the bell h is in normal position and the cord .j is

wound upon the drum j, the parachute n is in collapsed condition, and, together with the rings l, rests upon the drum j, all of.

f these parts being within the'upper compartment o of the barrel A. j

It will be understood that the upper wall i of the lower compartments b and c has an air escape openinfg z" over the compartment b, the purpose o which will presently apwardly 0 pear. It will also be understood thatthe upper Wall z' has la' suitable slotprovided therein over the compartment a, through which the cord f extends, and it fwill fur'- ther be understood that the vertical Wall b', dividing the compartments a and .b,=may be secured to the wall in any suitable manner. The bottom Wall and intermediate guide partition of the compartment ZJ are formed by the legs of the U-shaped member b which has the opposite ends cured to the vertical wall b `while the central or bi ht portion of saidmexnber is out the side wall'of the barrel and forms a guard for the triggerd. Y

The free end of the trigger d is`v inclosed within the central or bight portion ofthe U'-`shapedmember 2)" and said trigger eX tends through a slot a in lthe outer wall of "the barrel and extends toward the 'plunger' 1 rod e. The trigger '.is then bentback upon e. to retain the outer end of vthe trigger` cl itself, thereby forming the nose d for en gagement in the notch e in the plunger rod the latter Vand the plunger e upon the upper end of said plunger rod, in

-l their lowermostpositions-with the spring` 6 compressed around the plungerred e.

After forming the nose al', the trigger isextendedrdownwardlyand then curved outwardly A, and secured to thefbottom wall of the compartment b, as shown atti.

From the foregoing, 1t will be clearly apparent that should the engine of the airship stop,'or should any part -of the airshipget out of order, the operator may readily press and thereby nose d o? said trigger from disengage` the inthe plunger rod eA and the notch e" allowl said plunger e to be forced 'upwardly by 'the springA 6- 1 t0 compress the a1r above thesame and force -together' with the parachute n and bodiment of my invention,

tol eject the latter, arts between said .bell and parachute, rom the upper open end of the barrel A, It will also be understood that the cord f" is otsuiiicient length to allow a quantity of thesame to be loosely positioned in the compartment a, thereby making it unnecessary for the drum feed out the, cord f" wound said air against the bell h upon the. same, and bell h have A, after whichthe parachute willl open and the cord j" unwind from the drum andthe ward' j unwind from the drum As'soon as the cords f and y" unwind from their respective drums, downward movement ot. theA airship will be arrested and controlled by the jmrachute` n, therebyjc'aus'ing a slow and steady descent of the iVhile I h aveshown the preferred emit will be underof its legs se? Y ing =partment for forcing j escape opening, toward the outer wall of the barrel' rod e and `.plunger untilafter the parachute n s been ejected v,from the barrel airship to the ground.

stood that inlnor changes inthe details of constructionand arrangement of parts may be made Within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my inventionI or sacrificing any of the advantages of the same.

What is claimed is l. A device of the class described, comprising a barrel including anupper eompartment, -and la' lower compartment, a bell within the upper compartment, a parachute connected with the bell, said upper and lower compartments ybeing'separatedv by a transversepartition having an opentherein, means within thelower comair vtherefrom to ejectthe bell'and parachute from the barrel, means `for limitingoutward movement of the bell, and means for locking against opera tion the imeans I within i 'the j, lower "compartment.-

2.A device of the class 'describedf'comprisingy ar barrel havinga transversev partition and an open upper end, the lower por- -tion of the barrelbeing divided into two compartments, apiston within'one compartment, the' transverse partition above *said compartment lbeing vprovided with l an air a bell within the upper compartment and engaged overy 'said lopening in the transverse partition, a parachute carried by said bell, a trigger. Ywithinsadlo'wer com# partment and havinlgone end secured to the lower wall ofthe latter, the 'opposite end of said trigger' projecting through the of the barrel, said trigger having a nose inter-k mediateits ends and normally 'engaged with the` piston to retain 'the same in its lowerniost position, means for forcing the vpiston upwardly to compress `the air beneath the' bell and eject the same with the parachute from the barrel upon'disengagementbf the'V nose of the trigger with said piston, and means for limiting voutward movement of therbell.

3. `A device of the character l described comprising a bal-reha bell within the barrel, a'parachute connected to said bell, pneuxnatc means tor ejecting the bell landparachute from within tl'ie'barrelyand means for limiting the outward movement/.of the b'ell,

w i thi nv lth e barrel.

4. A deviee'vfof theV character described Uroniprising a barrel, a bell'in'sertible 'within the barrel, 'a rotatable drum Vcarried by the bell, a'parachute, a liexible 'connection be twee-.r the parachute and drum, and means for ejeeting the bell from within the barrel.

i DAVID WILLIAMS'oornvne' Witnessesf' j v"T.- 'SfJoI-INS'roN, j Ron'r. C. SMrrn. 

